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Ripper

An apparently forgotten, but fantastic, heavy metal (or 'horror metal' as they were commonly called) band from Houston, Texas, I remember really liking Ripper a lot. This is one of those rock/metal acts that seem to have been around forever (Ripper was formed in '77'-78) but have had little luck or career output during their existence---hence it's been easy to overlook and forget just how good this band was actually, back in the day. Ripper were a quartet, with incidentally all the four guys in the band doing vocals whether backing or lead, on the band's songs and live shows.

As cliched as the word 'classic' must have become from overuse, I honestly feel that Ripper's debut studio record of 1986 (that vintage metal year, no less ) was a true classic heavy metal album. The album is called '..And the Dead Shall Rise' and I believe a lot of thrash fanatics even outside Texas (and I was out half a world away) were suffiiciently impressed by the album to talk of Ripper with a certain awe and appreciation. Sadly, Ripper subsequently slipped under the radar and seemed to disappear, with no official news of their status, for close to twenty years, before resurfacing only last year with the teasingly titled follow-up album, The Dead Have Rizen. I got around to buying it just a few days ago, and I realise I'm still a believer in this old, bold bunch of metallars from terrific Texas.

"The three great elements of modern civilization, Gun powder, Printing, and the Protestant religion. ~Thomas Carlyle
"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" ~ Saint Augustine
"It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty" ~ John C. Calhoun